Research Briefing
A date of 4 May has been agreed for Palestinian legislative and presidential elections. Observers are unsure whether they will in fact take place on that date, as much depends on the fraught reconciliation negotiations between Hamas and Fatah.
Research Briefing
This note looks at the development of community rail under successive governments. It explains the purposes of rural rail, how it is structured, and proposals for its development.
Research Briefing
This Standard Note summarises statistics relating to crimes recorded by the police in England, Wales and Scotland in which firearms were reportedly used.
Research Briefing
This note briefly surveys the current crisis in civil-military relations in Pakistan, which is symbolised by the 'memogate' scandal. With the Supreme Court also hearing a charge of contempt of court against Prime Minister Gilani, the government's position looks precarious. While a military coup is possible, early elections are more likely.
Research Briefing
This standard note provides an introduction to the Chinese economy (including trade with the UK) : statistics and key issues
Research Briefing
The Welfare Reform Bill has its Third Reading in the House of Lords on 31 January 2012. At Report Stage in the Lords, the government suffered defeats on amendments relating to under-occupation of social housing, the Employment and Support Allowance, the proposed benefit cap, and child support maintenance
Research Briefing
This Note looks at the last two governments in Argentina under Nestor Kirchner and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who have pursued the Argentinean claim to sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.
Research Briefing
This note describes the Thameslink infrastructure project, including information on how the scheme got off the ground, construction issues and the policy of successive government towards the project. It does not deal with the controversial Thameslink rolling project to purchase new trains to run on the route. This is covered in HC Library note SN3146. The re-let of the Thameslink passenger franchise is covered in SN1343.
Research Briefing
The Scottish Parliament’s Scotland Bill Committee has recommended that consent for this legislation should be withheld unless significant changes are made to the Bill. This note traces developments since the Bill’s committee stage in the Commons, including amendments made on report, second reading in the Lords, the Scottish Government’s position, and the report of the Committee.
Research Briefing
This note sets out the responsibilities of relevant bodies for the safety management of level crossings. It also gives information on government policy and regulation and some of the more notable accidents that have occurred on level crossings in recent years.
Research Briefing
This note sets out where elections will take place across the UK in 2012.
Research Briefing
This note looks at the policies of successive governments towards light rail and provides information about reports that have been published about the same over the past eight years.
Research Briefing
This paper has been prepared for the Second Reading debate in the House of Commons on the Civil Aviation Bill, scheduled for 30 January 2012
Research Briefing
The number of parliamentary constituencies in Wales will fall from 40 to 30 as part of the current boundary review. Provisional proposals for the new seats were published by the Boundary Commission for Wales on 11 January 2012. This note looks at the extent to which proposed constituencies can be identified with existing seats and which existing constituencies would be most affected by the proposals. The proposals for Wales are also compared with the initial proposals from the Boundary Commissions for England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, published in September and October 2011.
Research Briefing
This Bill attempts to update, clarify and consolidate existing law and guidance about what insurance companies might reasonably expect their customers to tell them when they apply for insurance.
Total results (page 360 of 558)